I love Italian food, but…who doesn´t? Pasta, cheese, and tomato are a beautiful combination, and if we add some béchamel sauce, meat, chicken or whatever we like, it results in an awesome dish, called Lasagne!

I like to make my own béchamel sauce. It’s not difficult, and I only make the amount I need.

Today I will show you how to make a Chicken Lasagne.

Let´s start:

Ingredients (3-4 persons)

• 1 chicken or 3 big chicken breasts already cooked and chopped by hand
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 2 garlics, finely sliced
• Olive oil
• Salt
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 200gr tomato, diced
• 100 gr corn
• 100 gr mushrooms
• Boiled water (100-200 ml)
• 9-12 lasagne sheets (depending on the size of your baking tray)
• 200-250gr Grated Emmental cheese

Béchamel Sauce

• 40 gr plain flour
• 40 gr butter
• 500 ml milk
• Salt q.s.
• Pepper q.s.
• Nutmeg q.s.

Instructions

First prepare the chicken filling

1. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil with the onion and garlics, stirring frequently, until lightly browned (about 7-8 minutes)
2. Add the chopped chicken to the pan, and cook for about 3 minutes, stir occasionally
3. Add the tomato purée, the diced tomato, corn and mushrooms, 100 ml of boiled water, and stir it for 1 minute. Cook it for 7-10 minutes, and set it aside. Note: You might need more boiled water because your sauce can get dry

 Now let´s do the Béchamel sauce

1. Warm up the milk (you can use the microwave). Note: You just want it to be warm, (not boiling).
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
3. When the butter is melted, with a wooden spoon, add the flour, a bit at a time, stirring in between, until it is fully incorporated into the butter.
4. Slowly, add the warm milk to the mix, whisking vigorously to make sure it's free of lumps.
5. Simmer for about 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure the sauce doesn't scorch at the bottom of the pan. If you like to have a thick sauce, just leave it for a bit longer. Set aside. Note: Cover it with plastic film to cover the sauce, so it doesn´t get a thick layer on top.

 Finally you can start to lay up the lasagne

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Lay up the lasagne in a baking tray, starting with a layer of bechamel sause, then the lasagne sheets (to cover all the baking tray)
3. Put a 1/3 of the chicken filling, the white sauce and the grated Emmental cheese.
4. Repeat twice.
5. Top with the grated Emmental cheese
6. Bake it in the oven for 35-40 mins, until piping hot and crisp and bubbling on top.
7. Serve immediately